Social Change

Jury winner

Stop Acid Attacks

Hindi

Stop Acid Attacks (SAA) is a campaign against acid violence in India. It serves as a bridge between survivors and society as most of the victims of this brutal crime have isolated themselves after being attacked. Due to ignorance of the government and civil society, most survivors find no hope and often live in solitude. SAA aims to research and track acid attack cases and compile data to get the actual situation of survivors. One of the results of this campaign is a cafe called "Sheroes‘ Hangout" in Agra, the city famous for the Taj Mahal. The cafe is run by acid attack victims and has given them financial and social independence.

People's Choice winner

Hass hilft

German

“Hass hilft” is a campaign launched by Exit, a German group dedicated to helping former neo-Nazis far-right scene and reintegrate into society. The idea behind “Hass hilft” is that every time you see hate speech on Facebook you can comment on it with a banner from the campaign that says “Hate Helps.” For every hate-post, one euro is donated to organizations that help refugees or support people in leaving radical Nazi groups. The project raised more than 10,000 euros.

Tech for Good

Jury winner

Gershad

Persian

Gershad is a newly launched smart phone application that aims to help Iranians dodge the Islamic Republic's morality police who enforce behavior codes as well as Islamic dress, including the compulsory hijab. It is an innovative project that could lead to the creation of other applications to help Iranians bypass some of the state restrictions they face in their daily lives. The data for the app is crowd-sourced and relies on users pointing out the location of morality police vans on maps. When a sufficient number of users mark the same point, an alert will show up on the map for other users. When the number decreases, the alert gradually fades from the map.

People's Choice winner

Ramy Raoof

Arabic

Ramy Raoof is a technologist and privacy and digital security consultant, he engages with human rights initiatives, journalists, lawyers and youth groups on technology-related issues in Egypt and MENA. He developed digital security strategies and emergency responses in cases of physical threats, support on publishing sensitive materials, secure systems for managing sensitive information, and developed operational plans for human rights emergency response teams. He focuses on surveillance patterns and holistic privacy. In January 2016, Ramy was named in the World Top 100 Info Security Influencers list by CISO Platform in India.

Arts and Culture

Jury winner

Zentrum für politische Schönheit

German

The "Center for Political Beauty" organizes protests at the border between art and politics. Through provoking protest forms, the Center for Political Beauty managed to grab the public’s attention for a variety of topics, including the tragedy of the refugees dying in the Mediterranean Sea, how closed borders affect human rights and weapons exports to developing countries.

People's Choice winner

GMB Akash

Bengali

Bangladeshi photographer GMB Akash considers photography to be the language in which he communicates with the world. Through his photos, he articulates the experiences of the voiceless and brings their identities to the forefront.

Citizen Journalism

Jury winner

Razor’s Edge

Bengali

Bangladesh has seen a number of attacks on secular bloggers in 2015, including attacks that killed four atheist bloggers and a secular publisher. All the victims opposed religious fundamentalism and advocated for a secular society. Radical Islamist groups claimed responsibility for the killings. A blogger who was repeatedly targeted by Islamists has made a documentary about the current situation facing atheist bloggers, writers and publishers in Bangladesh. The documentary shows how top politicians support the killing of bloggers in the Muslim-majority country.

People's Choice winner

Vahid Online

Persian

Vahid Online is run by an Iranian citizen journalist who has devoted his life to providing uncensored news and information to others. In recent months, he’s launched a highly valuable channel on the mobile messaging app Telegram that remains unfiltered in Iran. Vahid Online curates and redistributes vital information to his followers and is a must follow for journalists, media workers and anyone interested in news and information about Iran’s political and social events.

User Award Arabic

People's Choice winner

Za2eed18

User Award Bengali

People's Choice winner

German Probashe

Bengali

German Probashe is a website for Bengali students living in Germany. It provides information and helps them integrate into German society. Thanks to this website, newcomers from Bangladesh find support from Bengali expats who have been residing in Germany for years.

User Award Chinese

People's Choice winner

Media Monitor for Women Network

Chinese

Since 2012, a group of young women’s rights activists has launched a series of campaigns. “The bloodstained bride” is one held in the streets to encourage women to fight against domestic violence. On March 8, 2015, International Women’s Day, five feminist activists from this group were arrested for planning to distribute stickers on buses to raise awareness of sexual harassment on public transportation and were detained on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking troubles.” Thirty-seven days later, “The Feminist Five” were released on bail, under tremendous domestic and international pressure.

User Award English

People's Choice winner

Open Migration

English

This online project has two main aims: first, to use research and data to challenge misinformation about the many people currently fleeing their homes in search of refuge and, second, to promote and protect migrants’ rights. Open Migration achieves both these goals with its infographics, commentary, news reporting, feature stories and analysis.

User Award French

People's Choice winner

Rythmes d’Afrique

French

“Rythmes d’Afrique, Racines – RAR,” or African Rythem, Roots, shows Africa’s cultural diversity with reports about theater, music, street art and literature, to name a few topics. Orphelie Thalmas, who was named Ivory Coast’s best blogger in 2014, started the platform three years ago, and the platform now also publishes correspondents reports and op-eds.

User Award German

People's Choice winner

#YouGeHa

German

#YouGeHa is a campaign of German YouTubers with a large fanbase who create videos against racism and prejudice. Together they reached out to millions of their viewers and called for people to take a stand against racism in all aspects of our lives.

User Award Hindi

People's Choice winner

Chaupal

Hindi

Chaupal provides a platform for discussion of various issues, including democracy, arts and culture and science and the environment. It aims to build a parallel structure to the mainstream media, which, Chaupal complaints, is mostly biased. The website works on a non-profit basis and is structured like a news portal, but people from around the country contribute most of the content. Chaupal aims to reach out people in the farther districts and villages in India.

User Award Persian

People's Choice winner

Kabul Taxi

Persian

Kabul Taxi is considered Afghanistan’s first satirical Facebook page. The creators have been pushing boundaries by criticizing politicians and highlighting social problems in Afghanistan, including widespread corruption. The popular page has created a platform for Afghans to raise their voices against the problems in their society and express their dissatisfaction over issues affecting their lives, including nepotism, corruption, and insecurity. The page has irritated Afghan authorities who had reportedly summoned several journalists they believed were running the page.

User Award Portuguese

People's Choice winner

Amazonia Real

Portuguese

The Amazon rainforest makes up half of Brazil, but there is little news about the region in the Brazilian press, which concentrates in São Paulo, Brasília and Rio de Janeiro. Amazonia Real is an excellent source of information about the Amazon - its politics, economy, environment and indigenous peoples.

User Award Russian

People's Choice winner

Antijournalist

Russian

At "Antijournalist" (Belarus), the blogger and media analyst from Belarus Viktor Malishevskiy describes and dryly comments on official statistics published by official state media. A typical example: "Since the presidential election (December 2010) the average salary of a Belorussian citizen rose from 1,595,900 to 6,536,100 rubles - or from 531 dollars to 450 dollars."

User Award Spanish

People's Choice winner

Asociación Animalista Libera

Spanish

Libera is an association to protect animal rights that has been working for many years in Barcelona. The group’s campaigns inform and create awareness about the conditions and lives of animals. It’s an important topic in Spain, a country with many traditions that use animals as objects.

User Award Turkish

People's Choice winner

EngelliWeb

User Award Ukrainian

People's Choice winner

The Price of the State

Ukrainian

"We'll explain the budget so you'll finally understand where your taxes have gone and so you can have an impact," that’s how the experts at this project explain their goal. "The Price of the State" provides easily understandable answers to complicated questions as well as two interactive "calculators." The first one is called "the bill from the state" and shows what taxes people pay from their income. The second is called "pension calculator" and shows the state of the future Ukrainian pension system according to current law. "The Price of the State" is run by the Eastern Europe Fund and the CASE-Ukraine NGO with financial support of the European Union.